Relic Joins Extra Life

By

Carolina Mastretta

Posted On 11.16.2015

At Relic, we are gamers and developers. We are also believers in the social power of games to make an impact in people’s lives.

This past month, Relic joined thousands of players around the world for Extra Life, a 24 hour gaming marathon in support of the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. Each year, thousands of children are treated for diseases like cancer and cystic fibrosis among many others. Extra Life was created to raise funds, have fun and help heal children at hospitals throughout North America.

This year one of our Producers challenged us to get involved with Extra Life, and shortly after, we had a team of 17!

We began fundraising for ExtraLife in October. We mentally prepared to over-expose ourselves to screen lights and we reached out to family, friends and co-workers for financial support.

As developers of multiplayer games, we set out to build a similar experience for our marathon. We got our team together and brainstormed a bunch of games that we could play together. We got organized to set up different areas to game together: console, vintage consoles, tabletop, D&D, board games and PC.

Our 24 hour marathon began on Saturday, November 7th at 10 AM. We began with a group session of Werewolf which kicked us off to a great start. The first half of the marathon was mostly focused on competitive gaming, from matches of Team Fortress 2 to short games of Heroes of the Storm and long, hilarious D&D sessions. Our fellow Relicans (and some of their family!) popped in throughout the day to bring us food and game with us. Their support and energy kept us going strong.

As we entered the night, and the last half of the marathon, things got a bit harder. We managed to stay awake with Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Street Fighter IV and a very long session of Civilization 5, with a few board game breaks here and there. We kept in mind that even though being sleep deprived can feel awful temporarily, the children we want to help go through tough life-changing challenges.

On Sunday morning at 10am, we finished our Extra Life marathon! We were absolutely exhausted, but we would do it again in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

Through the support of friends, family and co-workers, we raised $6,486 USD ($8,612 CDN!) for the BC Children’s Hospital. We are immensely thankful for the support of those around us, and we’re proud to have been part of Extra Life. May this become a Relican tradition for years to come!

To check out our photos from the event, check out the #ExtraLife hashtag on Twitter or Instagram!